BEATRICE – Nebraska rural counties face a couple of specific concerns as they attempt to maintain or grow their economies…and the problems seem to be similar, no matter the area of the state. One is a future loss of lower-skilled jobs due mainly to automation….and a second, keeping young people in their areas, specifically the ages of 20 to 34.


A former Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature who now owns a statewide communications company, spoke to a group of about forty Beatrice and Gage County business, government and education leaders Monday night.


Mike Flood drew on his involvement in the Blueprint Nebraska effort, the Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation and on research information through the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He said the issue of automation is a factor across numerous sectors, including agriculture and manufacturing…two top industries in the state.
"If we hitch our future to ag, and the goal is to bring people back and increase our population, we're tieing ourselves to an industry that is prioritizing technology over human resources. That's not just a story in agriculture, it's a story in almost every industry going forward", Flood said.


Flood, who is running for the legislature again in his home county of Madison, said the migration of young people from his own county could be seen while he was serving in the unicameral. Each year, he said the county saw an out-migration of young people from 20 to 34. He said it is a four-year problem, because a 26-year-old who moves to Omaha, gets married and has kids, has different jobs and buys a house....ends up staying in Douglas County.
Flood says part of the difficulty for smaller communities is the ability to retain young people who are single. He says those communities tend to work the best for young people who are married, with children. Flood says the UNO data shows Gage County with a more than 27% out-migration of people ages 20 to 24. But in the higher age brackets, communities tend to hold onto that population, or grow slightly.


He said, "I don't know how many times I went out and raised money for water recreation, and we put it on the ballot, and we built a library, we have brand new fields for youth soccer and all of these things. Every time I went to the bank and asked them to donate, or I donated....I'm doing it because this will help keep our young people. What I learned is that it doesn't work. Yes, it's important...yes, quality of life is important and you've gotta have it. You're keeping people here once they're married and have children. But, what do we need to do from 20 to 29...that's really the question".


On the topic of the changing job picture, the issue of automation is one that cuts across many sectors.
Flood said in a new economy as the industrial revolution sunsets, the new economy is about knowledge and information. "That kid in Boston that figured out Uber...made a billion dollars before that company even turned a profit. Because, the economy now rewards people that figure out how to take care of a task, with less expense".


He cited Union Pacific Railroad cutting thousands of jobs, so it can compete with CSX and BNSF... that are doing likewise.....cutting positions and using more automation to survive.


As for retaining young people, having enough housing, marketing your area and advancing quality of life are important. Flood said a fourth factor is early childhood education. He cited the example of Battle Creek, Nebraska.


"Battle Creek has free, birth to five early childhood education. One of us doesn't have to quit our jobs, we can both make money. One of us can work remotely, one of us can work at the hospital. If you think of all of the money we spend in incentives to get companies to move here that are going to move here anyway, lets put our money on the very product that we already put all of our money into, and that's K-through-twelve education. We spend so much money on that K-through-twelve education, why wouldn't we just finish off the investment with a birth-to-five....and say, you know what, you live in Lincoln right now, you have two kids in your expensive Lincoln daycare....come back home".


Monday night’s discussion was held at the Red Barn in north Beatrice. The event was hosted by the City of Beatrice, Gage Area Growth Enterprise, the Beatrice Area Chamber and Main Street Beatrice.